Karen Stintz, Rob Ford divided over sole-sourced newsstands contract

The tension between Karen Stintz, the chair of the Toronto Transit Commission, and Mayor Rob Ford was palpable Wednesday during an impromptu media briefing inside his protocol lounge at city hall.

“What am I doing?” Ms. Stintz asked Earl Provost, Mr. Ford’s deputy chief of staff, her voice rising so reporters could hear. “I just want to hear what the mayor has to say. I don’t hear from him directly.”

The mayor didn’t address his sometimes ally, but he was pleased that the TTC has “seen the light” and asked a third party to review a counter-proposal to the sole-sourced subway newsstands contract he slammed on his radio show Sunday.

“I’m glad they’ve realized they’ve made a mistake, and they’re going to revisit it and let’s take it from there,” he told reporters.

Except, Ms. Stintz says the commission is not revisiting anything. The third party review is meant to see how the International News proposal, which claims to be $4.5-million more lucrative for the TTC, stacks up against the one approved with Gateway Newstands.

“I have no intention of reopening this,” said Ms. Stintz, who has suggested the mayor simply didn’t understand the deal — which she insists is a lease extension, not a sole source — and hadn’t even contacted her to talk about it.

“Cellphones don’t lie,” the mayor said. “I’d be more than happy to show you I called her, left a message.”

Ms. Stintz, who has not ruled out a mayoral bid, confirmed Mr. Ford left her a message last week while she was participating in a public forum asking “Has Toronto’s political leadership failed the city?” She left him one back explaining the deal in detail.

She suggested, in future, that they should talk out their disagreements, “as opposed to discussing it on the radio.”

Gateway Newstands, meanwhile, said it welcomed the “political and media scrutiny” that has ensued since the TTC opted to extend its lease agreements for subway newsstands to 2022, maintaining the deal provides a net benefit to the city, and disputing International News’ claims that it can do better.